In a landmark article earlier this month, Mark Drapeau popularizes the rise of the Goverati: a group of government employees, civilian contractors, and assorted professionals who understand how government operates and are working collaboratively to affect change.
Andrea Baker suggests a proletarian revolution is afoot, complete with socially-minded citizens who join politically-charged Facebook groups, send emails to their elected officials, and participate in sit-in grassroots movements.
There is a reason why every candidate in last fall's U.S. presidential election used internet technologies for campaigning, fundraising, and building online communities. They didn't do it because they could; they did it because they were asked. The bourgeoisie responded to the revolution; and the Goverati both watched and interacted.
I accept my part as a revolutionary member of the Goverati, converging my experience and background in state and local government, and suggest the clownfish be our mascot.
The what, you ask? The gender-changing central character in Finding Nemo?
Meet the clownfish...
After spending its youth as a drifter among the plankton, the clown anemonefish transparently swim amid the ocean currents before finding a reef patch, details Richard C. Francis on page 38 of his 2004 book, "Why Men Won't Ask for Directions."
Upon finding a symbiotic anemone, Francis writes, the clownfish metamorphose. But it's not easy.
Many more clownfish descend upon a given reef patch each year than it can possibly sustain, creating intense competition for suitable hosts. Adult clownfish spend much of their time and energy defending their anemones against any potential usurpers.
In the United States Government, many policy decisions are based upon political party designations: are you a Donkey or an Elephant? Similar symbols exist around the world.
Considering most animal species comprise both genders at any time, I argue the Goverati ought to be symbolized by an animal that is politically- and gender-neutral. Asexual. Clownfish.
Would you like to meet some of my fellow clownfish, swimming the ocean currents with me? To one degree or another, these are folks whose blog feeds I subscribe to, enjoy emailing with, and/or interact with on Twitter.
All of them don't write about government initiatives all the time, but when they do, their intellect and smarts shine through. These are people I respect, and in some cases, are folks I'm glad to call friends.
- Aaron Brazell: TechnoSailor (@technosailor)
- Adriel Hampton: adrielhampton.wordpress.com (@adrielhampton)
- Andrea Baker: andrearbaker.com (@immunity)
- Andrew Krzmarzick: Generation Shift (@krazykriz)
- Craig Thomler: eGov AU (@craigthomler)
- Gavin Heaton: Servant of Chaos (@gavinheaton)
- Gwynne Kostin: On dot-gov (@gwynnek)
- Leslie Bradshaw: lesliebradshaw.com (@leslieann44)
- Meznor: Social Bureaucrat (@meznor)
- Stephen Collins: AcidLabs (@trib)
- Steve Field: The D-Ring (@fieldsteven)
- Steve Radick: steveradick.com (@sradick)
In their own class, I add Casey Coleman, the chief information officer of the U.S. General Services Administration, who blogs at Around the Corner and tweets as @caseycoleman; and Dave Fletcher, chief technology officer for the state of Utah who blogs at davidfletcher.blogspot.com and tweets as @dfletcher.
(FYI: Dave was also the first interviewee of my best practices in social media column who talked about Utah's ascension as the best digital state in the country and his views on e-government.)
Three other blogs I subscribe to that fit the mold of Goverati-worthy include the GSA group blog, Gov Gab, that also tweets under @govgab; the tech-savvy techPresident site; and the policy-oriented Wikinomics blog.
There are many other folks in the Goverati world who I tweet with, ranging from Mark Drapeau to Justin Kerr-Stevens to Sarah Bourne.
If you brand yourself with the Goverati and I didn't include your blog above, please add a comment below, linking your name to it so I can add yours to my list. I won't subscribe to all blogs, but it would be great to know you're out there so we can work together when the call arises.
And... what do you think of the clownfish idea?
Photo credits: Nemo's great uncle and millzero.com
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